As the November 2023 Insight on Manufacturing cover story about the need to build up UW System engineering programs was going to press, more than 40 business leaders — including AriensCo’s Dan Ariens, Amcor’s Chris Osborn, Kohler’s Laura Kohler, Miller Electric’s Chuck Romenesko, Oshkosh Corporation’s John Pfeiffer and Plexus’ Todd Kelsey, among others from our region — were signing a letter urging Republicans in the state legislature to invest in the much-needed College of Engineering facility project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison that is expected to add 1,000 undergraduate students.
“Engineering graduates are vital to the state’s economic development needs, but we need more of them to meet the increasing demand from our companies,” the letter states. “In the past five years, 1,235 graduates have accepted engineering employment in Wisconsin. In the last year alone, 445 employers recruited engineers through the College of Engineering career fairs, where the number of job offerings far outnumber available students.”
The November IOM story underscores this: The demand for engineering education in our state — both from students and employers — easily exceeds the supply. Here in the New North region, where the manufacturing industry employs one in four, that deficit is even starker. Before UW-Green Bay established an engineering college in 2018, zero existed in our region. Over the last 10 years, UWGB and UW Oshkosh have steadily expanded their offerings in mechanical, electrical and environmental disciplines and are even partnering with industry to add new majors, including automation engineering technology at UWO.
But UW-Madison remains the state’s flagship, and the plan to invest $200 million in that campus’ engineering building project is part of a comprehensive workforce plan that was put before the Legislature during a special session in August. However, lawmakers have consistently delayed action; this is in spite of the fact that UW-Madison has committed to raising $150 million from private gifts and grants and has already received more than $100 million in pledges for the project, which is expected to cost $347 million but would likely increase to $400 million if delayed until next year.
Meanwhile, UW System schools are reeling — including recent employee layoffs numbering in the hundreds at UWO and UW-Platteville. Last month Gov. Tony Evers filed an obstruction lawsuit accusing legislative Republicans of, among other things, “holding hostage” pay raises for 35,000 UW System employees; the state’s Joint Committee on Employment Relations exempted the university employees when it voted on releasing already-approved state employee pay raises Oct. 20.
These hits are coming to public universities that, according to data released last spring by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, already rank 43rd nationally for state support — attributable largely to a decade-long tuition freeze.
At the core of the issue for State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Employment Relations, is opposition to spending on university initiatives promoting diversity, equity and inclusion — another stance that is counter to the priorities of many leading Wisconsin employers. Emulating efforts in Florida, Vos has stated he believes all UW System DEI positions should be cut and that “not a nickel” should be given to the universities until this is done.
UW System President Jay Rothman has held firm, refusing to make specific DEI position cuts. But as the calendar pages continue to turn, the impact of the funding standoff is no doubt taking not only highly visible tolls like the UW-Madison engineering building, but other tolls on our UW System institutions and their educational priorities. It has also led to disarray and finger-pointing within institutions like UWO, where protests and swirling questions about an $18 million deficit have persisted throughout the fall.
Now more than ever, Wisconsin’s universities need to step up their games when it comes to training the state’s next generation workforce. Importing talent is an uphill battle. Keeping our home-base universities funded and engaged in the state’s critical mission of creating diverse, talented, tech-savvy employees is not just essential to the core of the UW System; it’s necessary to sustain our economy and keep Wisconsin businesses thriving.
Let’s stop playing politics with Wisconsin’s future workforce.
